Shoe-heel structure



' J. L. PREO ET AL SHOE HEEL STRUCTURE Original Filed Feb. 18', 1922 Patented Feb. 24, 1925. A

UNITED STATES PATENT our-ice.

JOHN L. FREQ AND ISABELLE HENNE, OF YORK, N, Y., ASSIGNORS TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-HEEL STRUCTURE.

-0rigina1 application filed February 18, 1922, Serial No. 537,394. Divided and this application filed July 6, 1922. Serial No. 573,232.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known .that we, JOHN L. PREO and ISABELLE I-IENNE, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York. have jointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Heel Structures. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and particularly to the attachment of certain types of heels. Great difiiculty has been experienced in the attachment to shoes of wooden Louis that they are subjected to excessive strains during the wear of the shoes to which they.

are attached. Such heels are often pulled or knocked loose and occasionally altogether ofl while the shoes are being worn. Wooden Louis heels are often provided each with a projecting, overhanging portion at the forward extremity of the attaching surface of the heel. This is desirable both on account of the graceful and pleasing appearance of heels so formed and because of the enlarged attaching surface it provides. The overhanging portion. however, is thin and is one of the parts likely to break if the wearer puts a sudden. excessive strain upon the heel part of the shoe. 1

The breakage of the overhanging portion of Louis heels referred to above, commonly spoken of as breast breakage, has been very troublesome. Moreover, when there is no actual breakage of the overhanging portion of the heel, it is often weakened and deformed so as to lead to a grad:

ual, progressive separation of the heel from the shoe as the latter is worn. Indeed it has been extremely diflicult heretofore so to attach Louis heels to shoes that there will be no danger of separation of the forwardly-extending overhanging portion of the heel from the sole, and many expedients have been tried in attempts to overcome this diiiiculty without the production of anything entirely satisfactory.

The present invention provides an improved method of shoemaking by which heels having projecting, overhanging portions at the forward extremities of their attaching surfaces may be securely attached to shoes without excessive additional labor or cost. This novel method is characterized by the formation of a flap or tongue projecting from the sole at the heel breast line and constituting an apron beneath which the overhanging portion of the heel is p0- sitioned. The junction of this tongue and the sole of the shoe is utilized as an abutment against which the overhanging breast of the heel is thrust when the heel is attached to the shoe. This tongue unlike the flap which is commonly used to cover the breasts of wood heels, is of substantial thickness particularly at its base where it joins the sole. Preferably, and as illustrated, the tongue tapers to a thin edge at its extremity and is concealed by the usual breast covering flap so that it in no wise mars the appearance of the shoe but on the contrary gives the breastof the heel a plump and attractive configuration. This tongue is secured to the breast of the heel by cement or otherwise and thus provides a secure anchorage for the forward portion of the heel.

In another aspect. the invention provides an improved shoe having a heel with an overhanging breast and a short. thick. tapered tongue formed in the soles adjacent to the heel breast line'and secured to the.

overhanging breast of theheel beneath the heel-breast covering flap or apron. This construction supplements the usual heel attaching nails or other fastenings and reinforces the forwardly projecting portions of the heels, as well as facilitating the accurate positioning of the heels relatively to the 'shoes so that a very superior heel attachment is produced.

This'application is a division of our apimately half of a shoe in the course of manufacture, a flap or apron being shown split from the rear portion of its sole and folded forward;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the next stage, after the trimming of the surplus material from the periphery of the heelsea-t'portion of the sole;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view, showing a forwardly extending scarf cut formed across the front of the heel seat region to produce a heel positioning and securing tongue or flap Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the shoe of Fig. 3 with a heel indicated by broken lines; and

Fig. 5 is a side View showing the heel applied and the tongue and apron trimmed to conform to the breast of the heel and cemented down.

The drawings represent a turn shoe, of which 1 is the upper and 2 the outsole. A thin flap or apron 3 is split from the tread surface of the outsole by a cut parallel with that surface, extending from the rear end part way into the shank. The portion 4 of the outsole which is left is to form the heel seat.

As part of the preparation of the heelseat the edge of this portion l is fitted by being beveled and trimmed away as indicated at 5 in Fig. 2 to remove surplus material, exposing the turned over portion f the upper, which is to form the shoulder of the heel-seat. Further working up of the heel seat, by hand or by machine, to fit the concave or cupped attaching surface of the wood heel 7, may be performed if necessary.

To secure the overhanging and forwardly extending portion of a Louis heel to the sole a scarf cut 8 is made straight across the forward portion of the heel-seat region of the out-sole, at the rear of the base of the, apron 3. The ends of this cut emerge at the two sides of the heel-seat. The upper transverse edge 9 of thiscut lies within "the forward part of the heel seat region, and from this edge the cut dips downwardly that is, toward the attaching surface of the sole and forwardly part way through the sole so as to form a stout, tapering tongue 10 of a length to cover the forwardly extending face at the base of' the breast of the heel. The bottom 11 of the cut is a transverse line corresponding to the position of the extremity of the forward extension 12 of the attaching surface of the heel.

The short, thick, tapered tongue thus formed affords a solid and exact abutment for the thin overhanging portion or lip 12 ofv the heelQand because of the tapering thickness of the tongue, from root to tip, a smooth finish is produced when the tongue is attached (for example cemented) to the breast of the heel, and the apron then cemented down over both as represented in Fig. 5. The double breast flap thus provided produces'a desirable plump appearance of the heel breast, securely holds the heel to the shoe, and gives additional strength to the weak, overhanging portion of the heel.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to the manufacture of turn shoes it should be understood that it is applicable also to the manufacture of shoes of other types.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A shoe designed to receive a heel having an overhanging forwardly extending lip between the breast surface and the heelseat surface of the heel, inwhich the sole is provided with a. scarf extending transversely of the sole through a fractional part of its thickness from a point between the rear end of the sole and the heel breast line forwardly and downwardly, thereby forming a short, thick, tapered tongue adjacent to the shank adapted to overlie the lip of the heel, thus ensuring that the contour of the shank of the shoe and the breast of the heel will be substantially uninterrupted and a separation of the lip of the heel from the sole will be prevented.

2. A shoe designed to receive a heel having a cupped portion to contact with the heel-seat of the shoe and a forwardly ex tending lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, in which the sole is fitted to provide a reduced and rounded heel-seat substantially complemental to the concavity of the heel and is provided with a scarf extending transversely of the sole and thereby forming a short, thick, tapered tongue adjacent to the shank adapted to overlie the lip of the heel, thus ensuring that the contour of the shank of the shoe and the breast of the heel will be substantially uninterrupted and a separation of the lip of the heel from the sole of the shoe will be prevented.

3. A shoe including a heel of the Louis type provided with a heel-seat cup and a forwardly extending lip adjacent to the upper end of the breast, said shoe having a sole whose heel-seat portion is reduced and rounded adjacent to the counter toprovide a close fitting of the concavity of the heel to the heel-seat. said sole being pro- .vided with a transverse forwardly dipping scarf entering the sole at a point adjacent 4 to the forward end of the fitted portion and forming a short, thick, tapered tongue adapted to overlie the lip of the heel and to be secured to the breast thereof.

4. A shoe including a heel of the Louis type having a cup to fit over the heel-seat of the shoe and a forwardly extending lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, the sole paring a shoe for the reception of a heel having an overhanging lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, which consists in scarfing the sole transversely from a point between the heel end of the sole and the heel breast line forwardly and downwardly to a point adjacent to the breast line intermediate of the thickness of the sole thereby forming from the material of the sole a stiff tongue, substantially shorter than the heel seat of the sole, beneath which the overhanging lipof the heel may be inserted. f

6. That improvement in methods of preparing a shoe for the reception of a heel having an overhanging forwardly extending lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, which consists in splitting the heel portion of the sole to form a thin apron extending from the heel end to a point slightly forward of the breast line, and then scarfing the sole transversely from a point intermediate between the heel end of the sole and the heel breast line forwardly and downwardly to a ,point adjacent to the breast line thereby-to form a short, thick, tapered tongue beneath which the lip of the heel may be inserted.

7. That improvement in methods of mak ing shoes in which there is utilized a heel of the Louis type having a cup to correspond with the heel-seat portion of the shoe and a forwardly extending lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, which consists in fitting the heel-seat portion of the sole by removing a portion of the periphery thereof, scarfing the sole transversely from a position toward the forward end of the heel-seat region downwardly and forwardly thereby forming a short, thick, tapered tongue adapted to overlie the lip of the heel and forming an abutment to prevent the separation of the lip of the heel from the sole, and gleeiliring said tongue to the breast of the 8. That improvement in methods of making shoes in which there'is utilized a heel of the Louis type having a cup to coact with the heel-seat of the shoe and a forwardly extending lip adjacent to the breast of the heel, which consists in splitting the heel portion of the sole to form a thin apron, fitting the heel-seat portion to receive the heel by removing a portion of the periphery adjacent to the counter, scarfing the portion of the sole underlying the apron transversely and downwardly in a forward direction, securing the heel of the shoe with the lip thereof lyin beneath the tongue formed by said scar ng, attaching the tongue to the breast of the heel, and then attaching the apron to the breast of the heel over the tongue.

9. A shoe including an upper, an outsole, a heel having its upper end fitting against the heel portion of the outsole, with the heel portion of the outsole extending between the heel seat of the upper and the upper end of the heel,'heel bracing and strengthening means integral with the outsole extending from the under face of the instep portion of the outsole and secured against the breast face of said heel. and a covering strip extending longitudinally of the sole and secured against the breast face of said heel and covering the heel bracing and strengthening means and entire breast face of the heel.

10. A shoe including an upper, an outsole, a heel having its upper end fitting against the heel portion of the outsole with the heel portion of the outsole extending between the heel seat of the upper and the upper end of the heel, an inner non-metallic tongue extending longitudinally of the outsole towards the heel portion and secured against the breast face of the heel, and an outer tongue integral with the outsole and extending longitudinally of the outsole towards the heel portion and covering the inner tongue and secured against the breast face of the heel.

11. A shoe including an outsole, a heel, the outsole being split longitudinally from the heel end to provide an outer tongue extending longitudinally of the sole towards the heel end, the sole being further out and split to provide an inner tongue extending towards the heel end, said heel being secured against the heel portion of the outer sole, the inner tongue being secured against the breast face of the heel and the outer tongue being secured against the breast face of the heel and covering the inner tongue.

12. A method of anchoring a heel to the heel portion of an outsole and bracing the heel consisting of splitting the outsole from the heel end to provide an outer tongue and then cutting and splitting the heel portion of the outsole to provide an inner tongue extending towards the heel end of the outsole, securing the heel against the heel portion of the outsole and securing the inner tongue against the breast face of the heel, and securing the outer tongue against the breast face of the heel to cover the inner tongue.

from the instep portion of the outsole tooutsole extending between the heel and the Wards the heel end thereof with the heel heel seat of the shoe, securing the inner tongue portion of the outsole extending beyond the against the breast face of the heel and se- 10 end of the inner tongue for fitting against curing the outer tongue against the breast the heel seat of a shoe, securing the upper face of the heel to cover the innertongue.

end face of the heel against the heel portion JOHN L. PREO. of the outsole, With the heel portion of the ISABELLE 'HENNE. 

